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1994 Japanese Grand Prix

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So, Hill is 1.9s clear of Alesi on aggregate time, who is ahead of Schumacher as it stands. But that all should be set to change now Schumacher has clear air.
Mansell pits, putting his scrap with Alesi on pause for the time being. Schumacher, meanwhile, is being held up by Hakkinen.
Hill pits, and retains his lead on aggregate - despite being passed by Alesi and Mansell on track.
Alesi and Mansell have battled bravely so far, while Alesi has overcome Schumacher on aggregate so far...

Alesi and Mansell have battled bravely so far, while Alesi has overcome Schumacher on aggregate so far...

This is a battle for the ages - how did Alesi keep that?! Mansell was level there at 130R, but he backed out at the last possible minute.
Mansell and Alesi are side by side, and the 1992 champion is SO close to making that work at 130R. But try as he might, he just can't breeze past the Ferrari.
Listen to Alesi's Ferrari V12, and you'll be glad that they left those pesky turbo engines in the 1980s. It truly is a guttural roar.
Mansell was even closer to Alesi that time, but the Ferrari driver hangs onto second - although on aggregate, he's actually a lot further ahead of Mansell.
Hill leads Schumacher, on aggregate, by about 20s. Is aggregate even a word any more?
And Mansell's going for it again, but Alesi holds the line for 130R once more.
Frentzen is in and out of the pits. Perhaps the giant watch daubed upon his Sauber helped the team work out how long he was stationary for.
Mansell is all over Alesi, but thinks better of passing the French driver at 130R. Presumably, he wanted to sit and listen to that Ferrari V12 a little while longer...
So Schumacher is, on track, behind Hakkinen. But on aggregate, he's behind Hill. Confused? We might be too...
Barrichello is out of the race, calling it a day after suffering a number of problems with his Hart-powered Jordan.
And Schumacher is in, ready to collect fresh boots and a glug of fuel.
And Benetton's pit crew are out - waiting to collect Schumacher.
Schumacher continues to flex his advantage at the front, and anything he makes up now will get added to his time from the first "leg". Schumacher does a 1m57.285s for good measure.
The battle for fourth place - Mansell, Frentzen, Hakkinen, Blundell, Irvine and Fittipaldi

The battle for fourth place - Mansell, Frentzen, Hakkinen, Blundell, Irvine and Fittipaldi

Schumacher continues to lead away from Hill, with Alesi a bit further back in third place.
The safety car is moving rather slowly - perhaps a saloon car isn't the best thing to lead a bunch of 750+bhp F1 cars. One hopes they'll have something a bit more brisk in the future.
The safety car lights are out, so this should be the final lap before we get going again.
So a reminder - Schumacher was 6.8s ahead of Hill in the first "leg" of this race. That'll get added to the time of this second "leg", and the results will be formed of the aggregate times.
Barrichello was stranded in the pits, but the Brazilian leisurely gets away to rejoin the pack.
And we're having a standing start, restarting behind the safety car. It's a slow getaway for, er, everyone there!
Barrichello and Panis pit immediately, the latter having put on slick tyres! Bizarre.
The spray looks a lot less pervasive than it did before. This new safety car will pick up the leaders and take them for a lap - whether this is something that stays in F1 for the long-term, we'll have to see.
And the restart will begin - we'll be having a rolling start, it seems.
Another rookie, Franck Lagorce, crashed out on his Ligier debut.

Another rookie, Franck Lagorce, crashed out on his Ligier debut.

And the race will restart, in three minutes' time. That's enough time to get a cuppa.
Mansell is getting back in his car, so it seems like the restart is definitely set to go ahead.
Nigel Mansell says he expects any restart to be a rolling start - and that he's happy for the race to get going if there's no more rain. Things seem to be holding up for now.
The rain appears to have stopped - hopefully, for good. We should be able to get going again rather soon, if we're lucky.
The red flag was brought out after 14 laps, following the accidents of Brundle and Morbidelli at the Dunlop Curve

The red flag was brought out after 14 laps, following the accidents of Brundle and Morbidelli at the Dunlop Curve

Taki Inoue's Simtek debut lasted all of three laps. Better luck next time - if, indeed, there is a next time...

Taki Inoue's Simtek debut lasted all of three laps. Better luck next time - if, indeed, there is a next time...

Brundle: "It's complete lunacy; I hit a marshal, I almost killed myself on the back of a caterpillar truck that I said shouldn't be out there in the drivers' briefing. It shouldn't have happened and it did happen."
So here's how things will work, as a restart looks more likely as the rain comes to a pause. The results will be taken as things stand, with Schumacher 6.8s ahead of Hill. This will then be added to whatever happens after the restart - so if Hill wants to win, he'll have to pull out a gap of more than 6.8 seconds to do it.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge

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